Atkins after Exante??

Gold Member

I am thinking of giving Atkins another whirl after a month or so on Exante....

Ideally I want to be down to 10st 4 at least by christmas and don't want to sabotage myself by coming off Exante and piling weight on with Atkins......

I did Atkins many years ago now in my late teens early 20's and failed after about two weeks as got sick of eating meat and fattening stuff with little success, but to be honest I don't think I prepared myself enough and just dove straight in without reading up on it properly!

Banned

to be totally honest i think Atkins is one of the unhealthiest diets out there !!! I think a low GI diet is much healthier and can work just as well . Without the nutritional completeness of a VLCD I dont think you can eat a balanced diet and stay in ketosis . I know many people have good results but its not a diet I would ever try , just my opinion

Gold Member

I love my meat but I couldn't think of a more boring diet! I tried Atkins and lasted 2 days
I have looked into the GI diet or Rosemary Conley diet follows low GI rules too, both look like they have more 'everyday' foods which will fit better into family meals too.

Gold Member

atkins is my normal way of eating.. you are only in ketosis in the first stage of the diet...anyone who says its unhealthy hasnt read up on it.properly from a bonafide source. its not just meat fat and. cheese you know...its mostly veg tbh

Gold Member

Teetie, I have to agree, I have read into it in quite a bit of depth and it is healthy and recommends low GI foods after the 2 week induction which is sustainable! I think I'll do better on this rather than carb filled, low fat rubbish!

Exante is good for the short term but really isn't healthy long term and isn't sustainable for ever so hence why I'm looking into something a little more sustainable...just worried about the weight gain if any!!

Been liberated by Exante!

Teetie, I have to agree, I have read into it in quite a bit of depth and it is healthy and recommends low GI foods after the 2 week induction which is sustainable! I think I'll do better on this rather than carb filled, low fat rubbish!

Exante is good for the short term but really isn't healthy long term and isn't sustainable for ever so hence why I'm looking into something a little more sustainable...just worried about the weight gain if any!!

ummm so what is long term? I don't believe its not healthy - being morbidly obese is pretty unhealthy too.
I have being doing it since 7 March 2011. I have never felt so good, but you are right its not a permanent life solution.
My plan is to maintain by two packets (breakfast and lunch) on work days - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. That seems easy; Three packets and a meal on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That's seems sociable, family friendly and having a life.
If I continue to lose weight - (which I did doing this on holiday) I will add a few more calories. Me and alcohol have parted company for a least a year. Atkins seems too much protein for me just now.
GSQ

If you are prepared to put up with some discomfort - you can achieve any goal.

Whether you think you can or think you can't, either way you are right. Henry Ford 1863-1947 .

Been liberated by Exante!

I have re read my post and it is confused, so yes, I did mean with a meal - Two packets breakfast and lunch and a sensible low fat, low carb meal every evening, and a third packet for a snack if needed. I find the packets fill me, they are convenient and give you the nutrients you need. So maintenance with a combination of packets and a meal.

I would like to get back to cooking too but at the weekends. I miss the creativity of cooking, the taste and being sociable.

Sorry it was not clear, didn't want to think too much about dinner last night!

GSQ

Last edited: 5 October 2011

If you are prepared to put up with some discomfort - you can achieve any goal.

Whether you think you can or think you can't, either way you are right. Henry Ford 1863-1947 .

Silver Member

I did something very similar to Atkins a few years ago with great success... i joined a Curves gym (women only ones) and they ran their own diet club within which i joined. The principal was basically the same i think but there were differences, something to do with saturated fat counting, i'm not too sure now. Basically the point i'm trying to make (i'm on day 2 Exante, bear with me lol) is that it wasn't unhealthy, it was just making sure you cut out the rice and the pasta and the bread, but replaced them with veg, salad, eggs etc. My overall veg intake actually went up, and i was probably healthier for it. The reason i regained is because i was young and stupid and didn't realise that if i went back to my old ways i would put all the weight back on, which is exactly what happened.

Been liberated by Exante!

I have re read my post and it is confused, so yes, I did mean with a meal - Two packets breakfast and lunch and a sensible low fat, low carb meal every evening, and a third packet for a snack if needed. I find the packets fill me, they are convenient and give you the nutrients you need. So maintenance with a combination of packets and a meal.

I would like to get back to cooking too but at the weekends. I miss the creativity of cooking, the taste and being sociable.

Sorry it was not clear, didn't want to think too much about dinner last night!

I have been thinking some more about this. What I find difficult is Friday evening and the week ends. In my muddled post I think I wanted to say - I thought I might be able to do three packets Monday to Friday and then live a bit Friday night and the week ends. I want to cook, eat, socialise and chill a bit.

What is clear to me is that I will never ever be fat again. Nothing is as good as size 12! The magic of finding so many clothes to choose from and so many that look so good is absolutely amazing.

So if I did three packets a day for four days and three packets and a meal on Friday, Saturday and Sunday it might work. It's sounds a way of balancing calories over a week. I am so used to three packets a day in a working week, it might not be too difficult.

To be honest I don't really know because I haven't done this before so it's a new way of eating and living which has to be uncovered and learnt.

Still pondering.

GSQ

If you are prepared to put up with some discomfort - you can achieve any goal.

Whether you think you can or think you can't, either way you are right. Henry Ford 1863-1947 .

Gold Member

Thanks for all the replies!! I'm going to use up my Exante box as I still have a week and a half supply left.....I may then purchase just the shakes and soups and start introducing an Atkins friendly meal each evening, or maybe just Fri, Sat and Sunday initially to see how I go, although the calorie jump doesn't appear good as a 400 cal limit lol!!!

I'm really reading into it as much as I can to get my head around it, and I desperately want to be at least 10st 4lbs come December which is only 8lbs away so I think it's achievable with a 1lb a week minimum loss! My overall goal is around 9st 4lbs or there abouts... But it is a marathon and not a race!!

Between now and then I have 2 Social occasions, housewarming/Halloween party at mine and a weekend in London next week, but I'm going to change my mindset and not use these as an excuse to binge on food! So will look at eating Atkins based food for one meal a day and stick to low carb alcohol (luckily wine is relatively low carb!)

Full Member

atkins is my normal way of eating.. you are only in ketosis in the first stage of the diet...anyone who says its unhealthy hasnt read up on it.properly from a bonafide source. its not just meat fat and. cheese you know...its mostly veg tbh

I also agree. There are as many misconceptions about Atkins as there are about VLCD.

The closer i get to goal the more i think about how i'm going to maintain. I've asked myself 'What made me fat?' - Carbs & 'Do i have the self control to eat them "normally" when I'm trying to maintain?'. - No. So I plan to follow a low carb plan - e.g Atkins as a way of life. I've said that I will eat that way Mon-Thur and allow myself some freedom on Fridays and the weekends.

Everyone is different, so do what works for you and your body. If I said I was doing low GI I could eat brown rice, brown pasta etc but that would be too much of a slippery slope for me to eating higher GI foods and I've learnt that I really don't need them to feel satisfied after a meal. I guess it's just the same way that some people feel they have to do 100% TS/No AAMW because food would be too much of a temptation.

There are lots of threads on the Atkins page of MM from people who have transitioned from a VLCD. You might have a small gain at first but it tends to balance out after a few weeks.